Crucible
by OPhantomOGamerO
Summary: The briefest of moments can have life changing impacts, especially if that moment was death. Having lost the Kyuubi and chakra Uzumaki Naruto's life is over. But something new begins.


**I cannot dedicate myself to a singular project. I'll update one story and immediately find a completely different story to start. Anywhoo please enjoy. Fem Naruto.**

**XXXXXX**

Why did it hurt?

Why did everything hurt? It was strange, foreign. It was scary. It was bad. She tried to sit up until waves of pain forced her to stop. The feel of bandages around her stomach was new. She'd never really needed bandages before, having the luxury of wounds repairing themselves. But no more.

She started to drift off before a pull at her conscious caught her attention. She felt pity. Why? To who? She could hear footsteps outside. As they moved further down the hall the pity faded with them. She strained to follow the footsteps but pain and fatigue called and she unwillingly answered.

* * *

><p>She awoke once more, slightly more refreshed. The taste of antiseptic was everywhere. Her chest felt slightly strange compared to normal. She looked down to spot two small lumps under the covers. This was probably the first time in years her breasts had been unbound. She had lived for nearly her entire life as a boy. Not out of some strange form of pleasure or preference, it had merely been out of convenience. Her crimson hair had also grown. How long had she lay there? Any pretense of appearing male was long since gone.<p>

She looked up as she heard footsteps. They grew nearer as she once more was immersed in feelings that did not belong to her. This time it was frustration and... nervousness? As the voices became clearer she recognised one as Tsunade. The feelings mainly seemed to be emanating from her. She attempted to sit up as Tsunade entered the room.

Upon entering Tsunade's eyes widened and all the fatigue of the day disappeared as she rushed across the room.

"What are you doing Naruto?! You shouldn't be trying to sit up so soon after your injury!" She scolded. Her thoughts filled with worry but, like everyone who had passed the hospital room, mostly pity.

"Wha," Naruto had to clear her throat after days of no use."What happened? Why am I here?"

Tsunade looked down at the helpless tone in Naruto's voice. After watching the girl in front of her face down countless enemies it was heart wrenching to see her so defeated.

"You fought Satori in Hozukijou." Tsunade paused, remembering why Naruto had ended up there. "You were stabbed and-" she wiped away the tears welling up, "and you died."

Naruto's face was ashen. Her hands started to shake slightly and she found she couldn't look at Tsunade anymore.

"There was a girl there-"

"Ryuuzetsu." Interrupted Naruto. "Her name was Ryuuzetsu."

"Well she gave up her life to revive yours but, during the moment of your... death the..." Tsunade stopped, her voice choking up as she remembered the events. "The Kyuubi escaped. You can't use chakra anymore."

Despite the revelations Naruto had yet to visibly react, continually refusing to meet Tsunade's gaze. After several minutes of uncomfortable silence Tsunade slipped out of the room. After Naruto was sure she had left, all traces of the pity which she had almost been able to taste disappeared, she started to cry.

* * *

><p>Each day was the same. An occasional visitor, checkups from Tsunade on the days she could bring herself to go, other doctors if she couldn't but the one recurring factor was the pity everyone felt. Naruto had slowly learned that she could feel the emotions of everyone around her, albeit negative emotions only.<p>

Regret. Despair. Shame. Shame was paramount, especially when Tsunade was around. And Naruto couldn't help but feel slightly glad about it. If it wasn't for Tsunade she would never have set foot in Hozukijou. And she would never have become this despairing creature she is now.

Tears pricked at her eyes as she once more reached for her chakra, for that once familiar spark but all she found was a dying ember that would fuel the weakest of jutsus before leaving her exhausted. Naruto wanted to scream. It wasn't fair!

She quietened down as some nurses passed by the door.

"Tsunade-sama insists no news reach anyone outside of the hospital but several shinobi have become severely injured. Mostly those travelling near the border of Yu no Kuni. She believes it might be the Kyuubi."

"Shh! _She _might hear you."

But Naruto had long since stopped listening to them. Yu no Kuni. It wasn't too far. All she had to do was retrieve the Kyuubi and everything would return to how it was. It had to. Now all she had to do was get there.

* * *

><p>Darkness blanketed Konoha, a grim atmosphere that had persisted since news of the Kyuubi's escape. It was no secret, at least not inside the village, that they were now weaker than the larger hidden villages. And worst of all Kumo probably knew it as they took part in the mission that birthed this tragedy.<p>

For one individual however, the darkness was her best ally. Naruto darted for the building she was behind to the next one, stealthily making her way towards the gates. She had easily memorized the patrols in the hospital and she had roughly ten more minutes until her absence was discovered.

The gates suddenly loomed over her. The final hurdle was just to get past the gate guards. As Naruto pondered her options Kotetsu and Izumo, the reluctant wardens, started at some invisible prompt. One quickly took off through town as the other took a more aware role in watching the exterior of Konoha. Unfortunately for him his biggest threat was inside.

Naruto swung the pipe she had pilfered from some poor citizen's yard as she passed, the metal connecting with Izumo's head with a sickening crunch. He collapsed in a heap. Naruto took a moment to apologise to his prone form before darting off into the night, her penultimate goal that much closer.

* * *

><p>She had travelled a lot faster than she had expected with a surprising lack of Konoha shinobi chasing her. It was easy locating the Kyuubi once she got near as every second person she met on the road warned her away from the area.<p>

Naruto's body slightly stiffened and her breathing became more rigidly controlled as she approached the secluded clearing. There was no way the Kyuubi would come quietly and she had only one way of dealing damage.

It's bright red fur was the first thing she noticed as she entered. The second was its glaring crimson eyes, trained on her since she entered.

**"I almost thought you were scared of me. You took your time chasing me down." **It grinned mockingly at her, every word carefully chosen. **"How does it feel to be so helpless, so much the loser everyone called you before?"**

Naruto stood by placidly, her fists clenched and her head down. Her form was so still she could have been a statue. Suddenly, her entire body gave a slight twitch and she looked up, her eyes yellow and framed with orange. Without speaking she launched herself at the Kyuubi, fists swinging.

**"So predictable." **The gargantuan fox sighed as the tail that had lay hidden struck Naruto in the side, her form crashing into the trees. Once more she darted at him.

**"Your cute little Sage Mode relies entirely on balancing your chakra with nature's. It's great until you have so little chakra they its boosts are negligible."**

At each word that left his mouth Naruto's swings grew more and more desperate, each syllable a knife to her chest reminding her how much she had lost and how little she had left.

And it wasn't enough. Every strike was smacked away or returned with extra force. Even now the Kyuubi was still prone, his tails defending him from Naruto's onslaught. As her desperate struggle continued she knew she had lost. She never had a chance of winning. But she couldn't give up.

Naruto drew on more and more Sage chakra, combining it with her own in a heavily unbalanced mixture. The one thing Fukasaku had warned her not to do. She cried out in pain and fear as slowly one of hands solidified, turning into a block of solid stone.

The sound of movement drew her attention and she looked up to find the Kyuubi had gotten to his feet, string down at her with an indescribable gaze. He spoke and his voice was softer than she had ever heard it:

**"Would you go this far in a fight you cannot win?"**

Tears streamed down Naruto's face as once more she struck. But this time it was different. This time the Kyuubi swung with all the force and precision he had and his paw shattered her stone fist at the wrist. Naruto collapsed in pain and shock, her prone form insignificant against the Kyuubi's sheer size. Her body shook with sobs and a murmured request.

"Kill me."

Her words were low and final, an acceptance of her fate and realisation that this was as far as she could go.

**"Do not force your silly idealisms on me, ningen. I will not indulge your selfish requests."**

Naruto looked up at him, a hollow look in her eyes.

"You took everything else, why would you deny me this?"

And he wouldn't. Kurama looked down at the girl who he had lived with for nineteen years,the girl who had never given up and never lost, begging at his feet.

**"Then die for me."**

And his paw fell.

**XXXXXX**

**Alright. That wasn't bad, about two solid hours typing. For those interested Yu no Kuni (Land of Hot Water) is slightly north of Konoha. There's a map on the wiki. **


End file.
